Heth R. Turnquist, Ph.D.
Contact
Campus: Biomedical Science Tower, 200 Lothrop Street
Office: E1554
Lab: W1500HH/II
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Ph: 412-624-6695
Fax: 412-624-1172
Education
- B.S., South Dakota State University
- Ph.D., Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nebraska
Academic Affiliation
- Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
- Associate Professor, Department of Immunology
- Member Faculty, McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine
About Research
The Turnquist lab works to decipher how immune cells interact with damaged tissue after injury caused by trauma and organ transplantation. We are particularly focused on gaining a better understanding of how “alarmins”, or typically sequestered self-derived immunomodulatory molecules regulate the immune system to orchestrate specific outcomes. The majority of our efforts use transgenic and knockout mice in pre-clinical models of solid organ and bone marrow transplantation, as well as tissue injury and systemic trauma. In collaborative efforts, we are working to translate our basic discoveries into novel biologics and cell therapies designed to resolve immune mediated pathology, as well as identify effective biomarkers of disease states in transplantation.
Selected Publications
Fisher JD, Zhang W, Balmert SC, Aral AM, Acharya AP, Kulahci Y, Li J, Turnquist HR, Thomson AW, Solari MG, Gorantla VS, Little SR. In situ recruitment of regulatory T cells promotes donor-specific tolerance in vascularized composite allotransplantation. In press Science Advances.
Liu Q, Dwyer GK, Zhao Y, Li H, Mathews LR, Chakka A, Chandran UR, Demetris AJ, Alcorn JF, Robinson KM, Ortiz LA, Pitt BR, Thomson AW, Fan MH, Billiar TR, and Turnquist HR. IL-33-mediated IL-13 secretion by ST2+ Tregs controls inflammation after lung injury. 2019 JCI Insight 4(6): e123919.
Hussey GH, Dziki JL, Lee YC, Turnquist HR, and Badylak SF. Matrix bound nanovesicle-associated IL-33 activates a pro-remodeling macrophage phenotype via a non-canonical, ST2-independent pathway. 2019. Journal of Immunology and Regenerative Medicine 3: 26-35.
Xu J, Guardado J, Hoffman R, Xu H, Namas R, Vodovotz Y, Xu L, Ramadan M, Brown J, Turnquist HR, and Billiar TR. IL-33 mediated ILC2 activation and neutrophil IL5 production in the lung response after severe trauma: A reverse translation study from a human cohort to a mouse trauma model. 2017. PLoS Medicine 14(7): e1002365.
Matta BM, Reichenbach DK, Zhang X, Mathews L, Koehn BH, Dwyer GK, Lott JM, Uhl FM, Pfeifer D, Feser CJ, Smith MF, Liu Q, Zeiser R, Blazar BR, Turnquist HR. Peri-alloHCT IL-33 administration expands recipient T regulatory cells that protect mice against acute GVHD. 2016. Blood 128(3): 427-439.
Mathews LR, Lott JM, Isse K, Lesniak A, Landsittel D, Demetris AJ, Sun Y, Mercer DF, Webber SA, Zeevi A, Fischer RT, Feingold B, and Turnquist HR. Elevated ST2 distinguishes incidences of pediatric heart and small bowel transplant rejection. 2016. American Journal of Transplantation 16(3): 938-50.
Liew FY, Girard J-P, Turnquist HR. Interleukin-33 in health and disease. 2016. Nature Reviews Immunology 16: 676-689.
Research Interests
- Cytokine immunobiology
- Innate immune cell regulation of immunity and tolerance
- Transplant immunology
- Alarmins
- Characterization and application of regulatory immune cells in transplantation
- Tissue injury and repair